Crazy things that make me happy. :)

I get excited when my kids eat healthy snacks or meals.  Really excited.  Like some women get when they purchase a new pair of shoes.  Add this to the list of things that makes me weird, I guess.

Just now, I pulled out baby red peppers with pine nut and roasted garlic hummus. 

My girls loved them!! 

Andrew's harder to convince, as he tends to take after his picky Papa and Uncle Greg.  It doesn't stop me from trying, though.  :)

My mom and i hit all of our favorite grocery/health food stores this past weekend.  It's become our Saturday routine on the weekends that Phil has the kids.  We try and make it to Eastern Market for eggs, veges, and anything that suits our fancy.  I like Trader Joe's for dairy, nitrate-free bacon, hot dogs, etc and lots of various grocery items.  Natural Food Patch in Ferndale is a must, because they have so much for so cheap.  I get my kombucha there, and I also like their selection of grains.  Their health and beauty section has many of my favorite natural picks, and the selection is the best I've found.  AND I save dollars per item compared to stores like Target.  Anything left on my list, mainly fresh chicken or beef, I get at Randazzo's.  I can't afford fully pastured & grassfed meat, but Randazzo's is the next best thing. 

THIS is what our fridge looks like when we're done.  Our fridge in the basement is half full, too.

We've got lots of eggs, fresh and hard-boiled, Trader Joe's whole-milk french vanilla yogurt (I've convinced my kids it tastes like ice cream), Trader Joe's kefir, lots of fresh vegetables and fruits. cheeses, sprouted-grain english muffins, and leftover chicken from stock I made on Monday.  I'm hoping chicken noodle soup for dinner will help my throat feel better.  I also bought a bag of shredded cabbage I'm planning to use for homemade cole slaw!!  Yummm...

Our pantry is pretty full, too.  Amidst my dad's foods and the various items that get lost in a pantry (my mom has a jar of marshmallow fluff that's been in there since I moved in a year and a half ago.  WHAT is she planning on using that for??)  we have brown rice, quinoa, various grains and beans, sauerkraut, and raw honey.  I love raw honey, so we have several large containers.  I'm trying to convince my dad to put a bee hive in the backyard this year so I can jar my own honey. I don't think he's convinced, yet...

My favorite finds this weekend were multi-colored popcorn and orange ("red") lentils.  :D  It's the little things in life that are the most exciting!!

I'm still addicted to International Delight coffee creamer.  I picked up a few large containers the other day.  I need to give this up, since the sippage of coffee is leading me to skip breakfast and lunch.  :-/  Not good at all, especially when you're in a contest with your mom and sis to lose 15 lbs!!! 

Today is milk pick-up in Royal Oak and a trip to No Pins Required in Ferndale for Rockin' Green laundry detergent.  I've been looking for a truly natural detergent that actually gets our clothes clean, and I found it!!  I originally purchased it for our cloth diapers, which is what it was designed for, but now I use it on everything (as the company suggests).  Since I started using it, I realized that clothes without fabric softener feel stiff because of detergent residue (yuck).  Rockin' Green rinses so clean that my clothes are super soft without the use of any softener or dryer sheet.  :D  Super exciting!!